Maicer Izturis

The Angels won a game they had no business winning Saturday night, not with the way they ran into outs on the base paths and one of their supposed big hitters came up miniscule in the clutch. But their much-maligned bullpen delivered 9 1/3 sometimes wobbly but scoreless innings, with starter Dan Haren coming on after the Angels exhausted their seven-man relief corps, and two of their little guys came through with huge hits in the end. Peter Bourjos lined a two-out double to left field in the 14th inning, and Maicer Izturis stroked an 0-and-2 pitch from closer Jon Rauch into right for a single that scored the speedy Bourjos and gave the Angels a 6-5 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.

Jered Weaver threw 7 1/3 brilliant innings, allowing one run and two hits. A pair of gnats, 5-foot-8, 170-pound Maicer Izturis and 5-10, 170-pound Erick Aybar, came through with humongous hits. The bullpen, a soft spot for much of the season, held firm. This may be hard to fathom for Orange County baseball fans, but when the Angels arrive in Fenway Park this weekend, it will be the Boston Red Sox who have their backs against the Green Monster. The Angels, playoff fodder for the Red Sox for so many years, pushed their October nemeses to the brink of elimination with a 4-1 Game 2 victory in Angel Stadium on Friday night to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-five American League division series.

CLEVELAND -- Just as Maicer Izturis was getting back into the swing of things, the Angels' shortstop appears headed to the disabled list because of a left thumb injury he aggravated diving for a grounder in the ninth inning against Seattle on Wednesday night. Izturis sprained the thumb in an Aug. 1 game at New York, and though he missed eight of the next nine games, the switch-hitter didn't go on the DL.

Milwaukee 2, Angels 1 AT THE PLATE: Held to three hits, the Angels saw their spring average fall to .215. But this wasn't the Angels' regular lineup. Maicer Izturis and Peter Bourjos were the only starters Saturday who are likely to start on opening day as well. ON THE MOUND: Joel Pineiro was sharp in his three-inning stint, giving up two hits and getting five ground-ball outs. Kevin Jepsen? Not so much. He went to three-ball counts on the first two batters he faced and gave up a two-run opposite-field home run to his third batter, Prince Fielder.

Seattle 2, Angels 0Angels 6, Cincinnati 3 AT THE PLATE: Efren Navarro went two for four with two runs batted in, lifting his spring average to .438 in the win over the Reds. Jeremy Moore also had two hits, scored twice and drove in two runs. ON THE MOUND: Jordan Walden, Michael Kohn, Trevor Bell and Jason Bulger each pitched a scoreless inning of relief against the Mariners with Walden and Bulger striking out two apiece. Against the Reds, Kevin Jepsen gave up a run on two hits in his only inning.

Facing their third left-handed starter in three days, the Angels didn't have much left. Toronto's Ricky Romero mostly stifled the Angels in seven sharp innings during the Blue Jays' 4-1 victory Sunday at Angel Stadium. In his first start since signing a five-year, $30.1-million contract extension, the former Los Angeles Roosevelt High and Cal State Fullerton standout held the Angels to six hits and one run. Adam Lind homered off Angels starter Dan Haren (1-3) and Aaron Hill drove in two runs for the Blue Jays, who won for the second time in the three-game series.

Fans clamored for Mark Trumbo to play every day over struggling left fielder Vernon Wells in April. Five months later, there is a similar sentiment for Wells to play instead of Trumbo. It's not that Wells has morphed into Miguel Cabrera . It's that Trumbo has done a nose-dive from those boom times of the first half of the season, when he teamed with heralded rookie Mike Trout to lift the Angels out of their early-season funk. Trumbo was batting .306 with a team-leading 27 home runs and 69 runs batted in on July 28. In 36 games since, he is hitting .174 (24 for 138)

The Dodgers'Jerry Hairston Jr. is among a group of major leaguers whose ability to play capably at multiple positions enhances their value to their teams. A look five other top utility players: Jeff Keppinger, Tampa Bay Rays Keppinger has played in 27 games at third base, 18 at second base, and also has played first base and designated hitter. He has been especially effective against left-handed pitchers, batting .426. During his career, he's played every defensive position except for center field and catcher.